13 Jan 11 Atlanta Hawks' Joe Johnson Is Not Underrated

Kevin C. Cox/Getty ImagesOn the left of the above picture is Vince Carter of the Orlando Magic. Carter is hitting the back end of his career, however his name associates with some of the best NBA players of the past few decades.On the right is Joe Johnson, the soft spoken two guard with the most generic name and one ofReebok Washington Redskins #98 ORAKPO Realtree camo Jersey
the silkiest games in the NBA.One man, Vince, is the epitome of stardom. Average Joe on the other hand has been labeled by the NBA as an "underrated star."It seems every single sports broadcaster and NBA analyst drops the same line when covering the Atlanta Hawks and Joe Johnson."You are looking at the most underrated player in the NBA right there."Now, in essence that is a compliment. When people are claiming you are underrated they are telling the sports world to "watch out for this guy!"Usually, eventually, that player breaks the ice and achieves that star status.However, Joe is stuck. After becoming the marquee player on the Atlanta Hawks, a team that has escalated its winning ways drastically in correlation with his tenure in Atlanta, Johnson is still being called the most underrated player in the NBA.Why? It went from a few people claiming he was underrated to everyone calling him underrated.And now, everyone has called Joe Johnson underrated for the past four seasons.So, if everyone unanimously agrees Joe Johnson is in fact underrated, does that not officially lift the underrated title from his name?You call someone underrated when they are a diamond in the rough; a needle in the hay stack.Johnson once was just that. Despite his talent, Johnson was a sixth man in Boston and in Phoenix. His transfer to the Hawks was a quiet transaction, considering the franchise was at the bottom of the NBA.Johnson would quickly blossom with Atlanta, and eventually became their top performer and a regular starter. Still, he quietly went about his business, thanks to the fact his team was nothing to brag about.And everyone forgot about the Hawks, and Joe Johnson, except for that occasional local writer who would say, "Johnson is very good, he is very underrated."I remember the days, and at that time it was good to see someone was high on the Hawks franchise. Not everyone was going to be. They were terrible.But it's 2010 folks, and the Hawks have been in the spotlight as the NBA's favorite dark horse team for the past few seasons.Johnson Reebok Pittsburgh Steelers 43 Troy Polamalu Realtree camo Jersey
has become an all-star player and leads one of the rawest and most athletic starting fives in the Association.The Hawks went from 37-45 and taking Boston to seven games, to 47-35, and now have started the year 24-13 and are fourth in the Eastern standings.They have defeated Boston three out of three times this year. They have blown out half of their opponents.And Joe Johnson is leading the train with 21 points and five assists per game. His statistics are not quite super star material.However, when put on the big stage, Johnson comes through. We saw it happen vs. Boston a few years ago. We saw it last year against Miami in the first round of the playoffs.And this season he seems to be coming on stronger than ever.Yet the media still cannot get it out of their head that this guy has finally made it.What makes him so hard to grasp? Why are the Hawks still a bunch of no name players?They are certainly the most fun team to watch in basketball, and in clutch time Johnson may only come behind LeBron, Wade, and possibly Dwight Howard in the East.So I guess he's on the brim. But I cannot help but notice his quiet persona makes him a boring prospect for sports media.This guy isn't underhanding balls from halfcourt in warmups. He's not doing a bunch of commercials. He's just going out and scoring.And leading the change in Atlanta. The Hawks went from a 13 win team in 2004 to a 47 win team in 2008, with the win total increasing drastically each year.Johnson is responsible for a lot of that. However, he's still the NBA's most underrated player. He's still the guy who DOESN'T have sound bites come up on SportsCenter every other day.He is even kind of a microcosm of the Atlanta Hawks. People don't like calling the Hawks an elite team. They like calling the Suns an elite team. They like calling the Reebok Green Bay Packers 21 Charles Woodson Realtree camo Jersey
Magic an elite team.But when it comes to the Hawks, people cringe when you ask if they are elite. But, is it not funny that they absolutely LOVE calling the Hawks the sleeper?People like calling the Hawks the sleeper; the darkhorse.The same goes for Joe Johnson. People have become so accustomed to calling him the underrated superstar that they cannot let it go.So what do you guys think? Is Joe Johnson an elite player? Will he ever move beyond his status? Or will he and the Hawks forever be the trendy darkhorse?